Finals are only days away. They seem to always be a grand surprise, as though we leapfrogged to them from weeks five and six. I imagine the libraries are already packed, the school will soon enter its period of depression, and quiet melancholy will overtake everyone.
And yet, as I walk down the hall to my room, I’m approached by invitations to go clubbing, hushed-voice requests for drinking company and a handful of speakers blasting distinctly non-study music from a few rooms.
If all this occurs, and most of these students don’t fail miserably in their academic pursuits at UCLA, how hard can classes really be?
There is a popular conception that students at schools such as UCLA are the most dedicated in the nation ““ those hardworking kids who know how to sacrifice a good time for study time.
While UCLA may be rigorous for many people, there are students who are successful (per their own standards) with nearly minimal work.
“Most students I know coast through the early weeks, then begin working around finals time,” said Kim Nguyen, a first-year biochemistry student.
Daniel Oh, a third-year English student, offers that “college is all about catching up ““ you don’t need to work until the last two weeks.”
Most students I talked to told me their average workload throughout the quarter takes 30 minutes to two hours a day, and this is only because finals added a greater amount of work to their regimen.
Even those who work hard consistently acknowledge that most students don’t match their work ethic. Fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student Abby Krall said, “I work hard quarter-round, but most students I know definitely do not.”
“One-hundred percent of the students admitted to UCLA have the intellectual capability to succeed here,” said Dr. Bruce Barbee, education professor and director of Academics in the Commons, a program that offers tutorials and workshops for residents of on-campus housing. He said resources such as time-management workshops and writing tutors make any realistic academic goal reachable.
According to Barbee, “Time and energy are the student’s most important commodities. Each student has a limit to the amount of effort he or she can devote to classes. How a student divides up these resources determines how well they do.”
When taking into account the opportunities for tutoring and academic advancement, and excepting situations such as family strife or outside stress on students, it becomes readily apparent that academics at UCLA are not as difficult as people would imagine.
While there are students who do struggle academically, a greater number are seeking superficial improvements. According to Barbee, each quarter, between 2,000 and 4,000 students sign up for Covel workshops that range from speed-reading to choosing a major. While this is an impressive figure, most of them are seeking to improve from a B to an A.
Additionally, these 4,000 students account for less than 20 percent of UCLA’s nearly 25,000 undergraduates. Twenty percent of the students at UCLA is not evidence enough to prove the myth of the hardworking Bruin.
While the number of students seeking extra help may reflect highly on Bruin ambition, the roughly 5,000 scantily clad students expected to take part in Undie Run’s sprint through campus at midnight on Wednesday of finals week better display our true priorities.
If you’re shocked that UCLA students don’t study, e-mail Makarechi at kmak@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.